Diverse heavyweights include Swedish pop star Robyn, Idaho indie rock icons Built to Spill and pioneering rap crew Freestyle Fellowship, from Los Angeles — touring with its original lineup for the first time in 10 years.

Also big: American country/rock singer-songwriters Shelby Lynne and Ryan Adams, and Canadian electronic duo Crystal Castles.

The fest's lesser-known Seattle acts are also strong, representing the top tier of several local momentums: twee pop (Seapony, Witch Gardens), hip-hop and soul (Don't Talk to the Cops, Metal Chocolates, Allen Stone) and chillwave, the trance-y genre currently taking over America's dorm rooms (USF, Big Spider's Back).

City Arts Fest is more than music — the programming involving movies, readings, dancing and visual art. But it's mostly music. And most of it happens in clubs and established venues, like Chop Suey, Neumos, the Crocodile and the Showbox.

One curveball is the Pacific Science Center Laser Dome, an underutilized space for music — and a cool venue to see Oregon electronic/indie rock band Helio Sequence.

The Trashies return from a three year dormant period with their new LP Space Jam! The Trashies, as you can imagine from their name, are not an ambient project. They're a thrashy, psycho-garage outfit that incorporate musical elements ranging from The Stooges to Bo Diddley. They're not the tightest band in the world, but they're not trying to be, and if that's what you're looking for in garage music of this brand, you're missing the point. Sloppy, thumpin' backbeats lay the groundwork for catchy, hook-laden guitar riffs that even sound sweaty. The songs on Space Jam are all short punk-jams, clocking in under three minutes, with the exception of "Bug Smoker," which is typical of their last few albums (which I'm obviously just trying to work in here so I can type their very perfect names), Let it be Trashed, Taz Tattoo, and Fartstorm. "I wanna Destroy," the probable hit of the album, is below, along with tour dates. Total Fest sounds fun.

Seattle's self-described "lo-fi rebel hip-hop" duo THEESatisfaction have been signed by indie label giant Sub Pop. THEESatisfaction is the brainchild of Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White, and between the two of them, they've released five EPs and recently appeared on Shabazz Palaces' Black Up. Interestingly enough, THEESatisfaction is the only other hip-hop act on the Sub Pop label, next to their other recent and still buzzing acquisition, the aforementioned Shabazz Palaces. A full-length debut is reportedly in the works for Irons and Harris-White.

The Royal Sea, Bellingham's contribution to the surf-tinged pop boom, just put out their first album, The Royal Sea. Timmy Sunshine and Jettie Lovette started playing their brand of beach jams together last summer and have recently rounded out the lineup with Evan Kuykendall on bass. This is music for the summer, so check it out before the rain starts again.

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://theroyalsea.bandcamp.com/track/lovette"&amp;amp;gt;Lovette by The Royal Sea&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

This year's edition of Decibel Festival hits Seattle bars and live music establishments from September 28 until October 2. The electronic music celebration is in its eighth year, and the recently announced lineup does not disappoint. Big name acts are playing, such as Amon Tobin, Ladytron, Moby, and buzz-drenched mystery UK producer Zomby, playing one of his first dates on American soil. Local acts include Truckasaurus, Beat Connection, Nordic Soul, Grym, and Jon McMillion, whose "Climbing Out" features below. Bring some earplugs!

The Deli Magazine was born in NYC's Attorney Street in 2004, in the shape of a print issue with a then unknown band on its cover, called Grizzly Bear. Ths NYC blog came in 2005, then the SF one in 2006, and then 9 more in the following years. The Deli is focused on the coverage of emerging bands and solo artists with a 100% local focus - no exceptions!